A faint blush of rosy red adorned the evening sky, like a brilliant streak of color casually brushed on by a painter while drunk.
In the dining room.
Chacha sat in his high chair, still immersed in the sorrow of losing his leaves. Even the pork ribs he normally ate with such relish tasted slightly bitter today.
Chacha touched his hair, pursed his lips, and let his little feet droop dispiritedly.
He shouldn't have gotten greedy for coolness just because the weather was hot, spraying water on his face with the bottle every day until he had watered the hair that was supposed to grow leaves all dry and dead.
The more Chacha thought about it, the sadder he became. He truly couldn't eat anymore, so he turned on his favorite cartoon, Little Plant Warriors, and watched listlessly.
On the other side of the room, Lü Rong suddenly received a phone call and hurried out to the balcony. He didn't come back until a full half hour later.
Lü Rong's brows were drawn together, and a trace of weariness showed through his usually gentle expression.
On the phone, a senior schoolmate who was on good terms with him had revealed some information: Lü Rong's former management company intended to suppress him.
That former company had shelved Lü Rong for four or five years. Better than anyone, it knew how dazzling this unpolished gem could be.
A pearl had been buried in dust for so long; no matter what, the company could not allow Lü Rong to shine again one day!
The company and Lü Rong had already fallen out completely, and the break had been ugly. There was absolutely no room left for reconciliation.
Under those circumstances, the company would never let Lü Rong continue making his way in the entertainment industry!
What if one of Lü Rong's dramas or roles suddenly made a splash and became popular again?! That would certainly not be good for the company!
Today's Lü Rong had long since lost his old popularity. He was nothing more than an obscure, eighteenth-tier-or-lower little celebrity. The company could crush him with the twitch of a finger and make sure he never had a chance to become popular again!
But for Lü Rong, the company's move was nothing short of a devastating blow.
Small and powerless, with no one backing him, he could not even struggle or fight back.
Lü Rong had only just escaped the shadow of his past and resolved to put everything behind him, return to entertainment, and build a better life for Chacha and himself.
He had never expected that he wouldn't even be given a chance to try again…
His old dream shattered once more, and the light in Lü Rong's eyes dimmed for a moment.
He sat on the sofa, holding Chacha's small, warm body and gently nuzzling Chacha's hair, as if he could only steady his emotions by drawing strength from the child.
Lü Rong kept telling himself in his heart: he still had Chacha!
Chacha was so little, so good. He had to pull himself together and protect Chacha until he grew up!
Chacha could tell Daddy felt awful and assumed Daddy had also discovered that Chacha was about to lose all his leaves.
He pouted, desperately holding back the hot tears circling in his eyes. He touched Daddy's face with his little hand. Even though he felt terrible too, he still comforted Daddy in a tiny voice.
“Don't be sad. Chacha won't water himself anymore, and my leaves will grow back.”
Once he grew beautiful tea leaves, he would snip them all off and brew tea for Daddy!
Then Daddy would be happy!
Lost in his own thoughts, Lü Rong rubbed Chacha's cheeks and took a deep breath.
“Right! Daddy isn't sad. It's okay! Daddy will go find a job tomorrow, and I will definitely raise our Chacha well!”
After being comforted by Chacha in a completely mismatched conversation, Lü Rong's mood clearly improved, and a hint of a smile returned to his face.
Lü Rong thought that even if he couldn't be an actor, he could surely find some other kind of work!
He absolutely would not be beaten so easily!
***
The next day was another scorching day with the blazing sun hanging high overhead.
Lü Rong had to go out to look for work and couldn't take care of Chacha every moment, so he had no choice but to leave Chacha at home for the time being.
Taking advantage of Daddy's absence, Chacha busily dragged out a flowerpot. He planned to stay in it for a while and properly absorb nutrients from the soil.
In his previous life, when Chacha was still a little tea plant, that was how he had worked hard to draw nourishment from the earth, feeding himself until he was full and strong in preparation for flowering and growing tea leaves.
Unfortunately, Chacha was very young in this life. His little head was muddled, and there were many things he couldn't figure out.
Before Chacha had learned to walk, he could only babble meaningless sounds. Sometimes, when he saw himself in a mirror, he thought it was very strange that he had grown little hands and feet.
Later, when Chacha slowly learned to talk, he had even asked Daddy why Chacha didn't have branches, and why Daddy didn't plant him in a flowerpot, water and fertilize him, and raise him that way.
Wasn't Chacha a little tea plant?
Could it be that the method of raising little tea plants had changed now, and you were supposed to raise them as human toddlers?
Daddy had explained a great many things, but unfortunately Chacha was too young to understand most of it.
It wasn't until the thoroughly confused Chacha saw the cartoon Little Plant Warriors that everything finally made sense.
The tiny plants in the cartoon could turn into human children too!
Chacha's eyes immediately lit up, as though he had found his own kind. It took him only a few days to finish the entire first season of Little Plant Warriors.
The cartoon said that only clever and brave plants could become human!
Chacha was the smartest and most exceptional tea plant of all. The master of the tea plantation who had raised him said that if Chacha ever grew tea leaves, they would need only a little pan-firing and processing to become the very finest West Lake Dragon Well tea.
Among green teas, it was the tea with the freshest and most distinctive flavor and mouthfeel!
Then the plantation master would submit a memorial to the emperor and ask His Majesty to confer the title of Imperial Tea upon Chacha, making him a green tea plant in a class all his own!
It had to be because Chacha was so extraordinary that he had been able to become a human toddler.
But although he had turned into a human child, Chacha's little-tea-plant nature hadn't changed. He still hoped tea leaves would hurry up and grow from his head.
A few days ago, Chacha had begged Daddy to buy him a flowerpot, and it was just the right size to plant himself in!
By the time Daddy came back, maybe Chacha would already have taken root and sprouted in the soil, with slender little branches growing out!
Some time ago, while playing in the sand downstairs in the apartment complex, Chacha had brought back quite a lot of soil in his pockets and secretly hidden it under the bed. Now was the perfect time to take it out.
Why had he hidden it secretly? Because once before, Chacha had excitedly brought Daddy a pocketful of dirt, only to hear Daddy cry out in alarm.
“Chacha, how did you get so dirty? Come here, Daddy will wash you! Shall we wash our Chacha until he's clean, fragrant, and snowy white?”
Daddy had carried Chacha into the bathroom. Standing beneath the warm, comfortable shower, Chacha watched the soil he had brought turn into streams of black muddy water that all flowed down the drain.
Daddy had also said that because Chacha was so dirty, they nearly ran out of hot water after his bath, and the drain had almost clogged.
Freshly washed Chacha lay on the bed wrapped in a big blanket, his hair bundled up too, leaving only a pair of watery, mist-filled eyes visible.
Seeing the muddy water still running through the bathroom, he blushed all the way to the roots of his ears in embarrassment and buried his head in the blanket.
From then on, Chacha understood that Daddy didn't like dirt, nor did he like planting Chacha in a flowerpot to raise him.
Daddy loved cleanliness, and he kept Chacha very clean too.
So Chacha had no choice but to secretly save a little soil, planning to take it out and pour it into the flowerpot while Daddy was away so he could at least replenish some nutrients.
Being clean was certainly nice, but if he wanted to grow tea leaves, he absolutely couldn't go without the nourishment of soil.
Using his little toy shovel, Chacha huffed and puffed through several trips, moving all the dirt from under the bed into the flowerpot.
The old apartment complex had no air-conditioning. After five or six trips, Chacha was sweating all over his forehead and his little face was red from the heat, but he stubbornly refused to drink any water.
Chacha had watered himself too much over the past couple of days. He definitely couldn't drink any more water now.
Completely exhausted, Chacha sat beside the flowerpot for a while to catch his breath.
He took out a small plastic fan he had been handed on the street, printed with an advertisement for a men's health hospital, and vigorously fanned himself.
The gentle breeze, carrying a hint of coolness, lifted the wispy hair across Chacha's forehead, and the crystalline beads of sweat soon dried away.
Once the heat had subsided, Chacha crouched down and took off his shoes.
Barefoot on two soft, fair little feet, Chacha quickly dug a shallow hole in the flowerpot.
He buried his feet in the soil inside the pot, then bent down and pushed the mounded dirt beside them over the tops of his feet.
After planting himself in the flowerpot, Chacha couldn't help letting out a long sigh of relief.
The pot was large and heavy. Even with Chacha standing inside it, the weighty base didn't wobble in the slightest and remained perfectly stable.
Chacha had even deliberately put the flowerpot in a shady spot on the balcony.
Tea plants naturally preferred moist, cool conditions and couldn't stand being baked in direct sunlight.
With everything ready, Chacha happily shook his head while standing in the pot, thinking that he had to hurry and start absorbing nutrients so he could grow leaves properly!
Soon, one minute passed…
Five minutes passed…
After spending more than half an hour in the soil, Chacha opened his eyes wide. His round, catlike eyes were filled with boundless confusion and helplessness.
Strange. Why couldn't Chacha absorb any nutrients?
Chacha wiggled the feet he had buried in the dirt. Other than feeling the warmth of the soil, which had been heated through by the high temperature, he felt absolutely nothing else.
What was going on? Was Chacha sick?
Before Chacha could figure out why, Lü Rong, who had gone out to look for work, suddenly came home.
Separated by the living room, father and son stood frozen in place and stared at each other, equally bewildered.
“Why is Daddy back?” “Chacha, what are you doing?”
Father and son asked at the same time, then simultaneously shut their mouths.
Frowning, Lü Rong walked over and lifted Chacha out of the flowerpot. Before he could say anything, he looked down, saw Chacha's heat-flushed cheeks, and felt his heart lurch.
He touched Chacha's forehead and found the child's lips pale. Without another word, he made Chacha drink an entire bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi medicinal liquid, then picked him up and ran for the hospital.
Held in Daddy's arms, Chacha's mouth and nose were full of the awful-tasting medicine. He felt like a little sapling that had been watered with poison, so wilted he was nearly poisoned to death.
Chacha lay weakly against Daddy's shoulder. Feeling rather miserable, he asked in a tiny voice,
“Daddy, where are we going?”
Lü Rong rubbed Chacha's head and gently soothed him.
“I'm taking Chacha to the hospital. It's been too hot lately, and Chacha has probably gotten heatstroke. Don't be scared, Chacha. Daddy is here.”
Chacha wasn't scared. His sun-reddened cheeks were almost peeling and felt red and itchy, but his attitude was excellent.
So Chacha really was sick.
No wonder he couldn't absorb nutrients from the soil.